The present invention relates to the agitation of pouched products and, more particularly, to a system and method for agitating pouched products traveling along a conveyor belt to facilitate heat transfer, blending, mixing and/or stirring of the contents thereof.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various products are packaged in flexible resilient containers, e.g., pouches made of plastic film or other such flexible materials. These products may include food products such as sauces, soups, juices, gravies, etc. or industrial/medical products including gels and salves. The mentioned pouches, which can take many different shapes, are often times transported along a conveyor belt during the packaging/processing stage. The pouched products may need to be heated as they travel along the conveyor belt (e.g., to effect a pasteurization process), may need to be cooled (e.g., to retard growth of bacteria) or may need to be mixed/stirred for miscellaneous processing purposes.
For example, in a typical food preparation process, a pouch is hot-filled with a food product and thereafter sealed. Once sealed, the pouched product is subjected to a pasteurization process where it is heated to a predetermined temperature for a preselected period of time. The pouched product is then rapidly cooled. This cooling is typically accomplished as the pouch moves along a conveyor belt, e.g., by spraying cold water and/or air onto the pouch. However, because the pouch contains a quantity of heated product, and because the cold water/air contacts only the outer surface of the pouch, it has been difficult in the past to quickly and uniformly cool the entire contents of the pouch. Failure to quickly and uniformly cool the entire contents of the package can result in over-processing and/or deterioration of the quality of the product contained in the pouch.
Available systems attempt to increase the heat transfer rate of the pouched products by “flipping” the pouch from one side to the other as it proceeds down the conveyor belt in an effort to mix the contents of the pouch. This may be accomplished by various mechanical equipment, e.g., a U-shaped slide extending between one section of the conveyor belt and a second section of the conveyor belt. It will be appreciated, however, that “flipping” of the pouches to increase the heat transfer rate has several significant disadvantages, including the potential of breaking or creating leaks in the pouch, wrinkling the pouch and/or marring the printing contained on the pouch. Moreover, the currently available systems have the potential to cause a significant backup in the line in the event that a pouch becomes jammed while being “flipped.”
Other prior art systems use basket-like transport to move the packages through a fluid bath or spray while subjecting the package to a rocking motion. However, such systems are complex and difficult to operate. In addition, they do not allow for the ready modification of existing conveyor belts. Still, other known systems immerse the pouched product in a fluid bath while subjecting the pouches to forces such as a wet jet or a vibrating member. Again, these systems are complex, difficult to operate and not suitable for the retrofitting of existing conveyor belts.
There is therefore a need in the art for a system and method which can facilitate heat transfer, blending, mixing and/or stirring of the product contained within a flexible resilient pouch traveling along a conveyor belt. There is a further need in the art for a simple, energy efficient system which allows for the ready modification of existing conveyor belts.